Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir, cello 
Antoine Préat, cello

Geirþrúður has performed at venues across the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Southbank Centre, the Warsaw Philharmonic, Lincoln Center, and the Banff Centre, and appeared as soloist a with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her performance in Reykjavík's Harpa Concert Hall of the six Bach Cello Suites, was hailed as "an awe-inspiring experience” (Frettabladid, Iceland).

Geirþrúður has been a prize winner at numerous competitions, including the Anton Rubinstein International Cello Competition, Hellam Young Artist Competition, the New York International Artists Association Competition, the Philharmonic Society of Arlington Young Artist Competition, and the Thaviu String Competition. Most recently, she was a semi-finalist at the Lutoslawski International Cello Competition and was selected as a 2024 City Music Foundation Artist. Additionally, she has received fellowships from the Jean-Pierre Jaquillat Memorial Foundation, the American-Scandinavian Foundation and the American-Scandinavian Society. She is a fellow of the Leifur Eiríksson Foundation and a former scholar of the Drake Calleja Trust.

A life-long lover of chamber music, she spent a formative year as the cellist of the Terra String Quartet in New York. With them, she performed and toured across the United States, won the Gold Medal and Grand Prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and appeared as a semi-finalist at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. Since refocusing her attentions on her work as a recitalist and soloist, she brings with her the experiences of her time as a quartet-cellist, which have helped shape her into an artist who prizes collaboration, spontaneity, and an openness to audiences and other musicians. Other notable chamber music prizes include the Prix musique de chambre from the Ecole d'Art Américains de Fontainebleau, and top prizes at the Dover String Quartet and WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competitions. She has performed at festivals across the United States and Europe, including IMS Prussia Cove, Kneisel Hall, the International Holland Music Sessions, Hvide Sande Masterclasses, the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, and the Harpa International Music Academy.

Geirþrúður grew up in a musical and multicultural family in Reykjavik and began her musical education at a young age, studying cello with her uncle and music theory, analysis and ear training with her father. She quickly showed a very intense and expressive relationship with the cello and made her orchestral debut at age 18 with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She graduated with honors from the Reykjavik College of Music in 2013 before going on to complete her undergraduate studies with Hans Jensen at Northwestern University in Chicago. She received a master's degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with and served as Teaching Assistant to Natasha Brofsky, and holds an Advanced Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music in London. 

Her own deep connection to her homeland has influenced her programming. As a musician, she focuses on telling stories about the relationships between people and places, subtly subverting audiences’ expectation of a traditional recital by including rarely heard pieces, transcriptions, and newly written music alongside established standards

In addition to her work as a modern cellist, Geirþrúður has a keen interest in period performance and conducting. She has studied baroque cello with Phoebe Carrai and Tanya Tompkins and appeared at the Valley of the Moon Music Festival for period performance in California. She made her conducting debut with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 2023 as a member of the orchestra's Conducting Academy.

Antoine Préat has been invited to perform in prestigious venues including the Wigmore Hall,  Concertgebouw Amsterdam, BOZAR, Flagey, Harpa Hall. Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot,  Frederyk Chopin Insitute, as well as festivals such as the Folle Journée de Nantes, Chipping Campden, Nohant Chopin Festival, Lisztomanias, Chopin à Bagatelle, Les Nuits du Piano in Paris, IMS Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove and Encuentro de Santander. He has appeared on BBC Radio 3, France Musique, Scala Radio and RTBF Musiq3 

Antoine has performed alongside leading artists and orchestras including Maté Szücs, Miclen LaiPang, Margarita Balanas, Manuel Blanco, Sinfonietta Lausanne, Lesley Hatfield, Robin Ireland, the Centre de Musique de Chambre de Paris, Sainsbury Soloists, Academy Festival Orchestra, University Orchestra of Alicante and London Student Orchestra.

Throughout his career, Antoine has also been fortunate to receive guidance from Philippe Cassard, Cedric Pescia, Thomas Adès, Boris Berman, Robert Levin, Jerome Lowenthal, Richard Goode, Imogen Cooper and Stephen Hough. 

After graduating with honours from the Ecole Normale de Paris where he studied with Liudmila Berlinskaia and Guigla Katsarava, Antoine furthered his studies at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music under the tutelage of Tatiana Sarkissova and Ronan O'Hora, while studying harpsichord and fortepiano under the guidance of Carole Cerasi.

Antoine was awarded the first prize of the Concours international d’Ile de France and the Los Angeles Colburn Piano Festival Competition, the honour prize at the New York Début Piano   Competition and most recently was a semifinalist at the Clara Haskil Competition 2021.

​Passionate about education, Antoine has also been teaching for several years and has been invited several times to teach at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. 

Antoine is generously supported by the City Music Foundation, Talent Unlimited, the Munster Derek Butler Award, Hattori Foundation and the Winifred Christie Trust Award.

• Tickets must be booked in advance through this website; prices are shown when you book
• Seats are guaranteed but not reserved — sit wherever you like
• Drinks and light refreshments at the interval are included in your ticket
• Parking at the house is free, from 7.00 pm; doors open at 7.15 pm and the music begins at 7.30 pm
• Ticket prices broadly cover our musicians' fees — a voluntary donation helps us keep the recitals going
• We are at Breinton, Heath House Road, Woking GU22 0RD — get directions here.

• Ticket sales are final and non-refundable — we cannot return your payment if you are unable to attend. If we have to cancel a recital, you will of course be refunded in full. Donations are non-refundable.
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• If you cannot attend, we may be able to pass your tickets to another member for you. Please ask at least three days before the recital; where a transfer succeeds, an administration charge of 30% of the ticket price applies.
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